Maybe the Milwaukee Bucks were right about Malcolm Brogdon after all

The Milwaukee Bucks were derided for what seemed like stingy decision-making when they let Malcolm Brogdon walk this summer. Maybe they were right after all.

The Milwaukee Bucks fell in six games last season to the Toronto Raptors, the eventual NBA champs. Not 15 minutes after the final buzzer sounded, a report from ESPN’s Malika Andrews went up on the website and out on Twitter: The coming summer and season were going to be crucial to keeping Giannis Antetokounmpo in Milwaukee.

The Bucks were disappointed to go out in the fashion they did. They had a great regular season, dominating the Eastern Conference. They jumped out to a 2-0 lead and seemed in total control of the Raptors in the second round before the Raps stole Game 3 and managed to surge back and win four straight.

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Winning the free agency period seemed essential, and to do so the Bucks would surely have to go into the luxury tax. Just re-signing all their key guys would cost a hefty sum, and the most expensive of their free agents would be Malcolm Brogdon.

He was the NBA’s Rookie of the Year in 2017 at the ripe old age of 24. Last season he was a member of the illustrious 50/40/90 club with shooting splits of .505/.426/.928 (his free throw percentage led the NBA).

It seemed as though he was a great third or fourth option and somebody the Milwaukee Bucks, in their pursuit of a championship and a long-term commitment from Antetokounmpo, would pay whatever it took to keep. Bucks ownership may be known to be frugal, but surely they weren’t suicidal, right?

Well, when the Indiana Pacers came calling with a four-year, $85 million offer sheet, that assumption was put to the test. The Bucks chose not to match, but they did maximize their leverage and got three draft picks out of the deal in a sign-and-trade. In relinquishing their claim on Brogdon, they got back the Pacers’ 2020 first-round pick, a 2021 second-round pick and a 2025 second-round pick.

Of course, draft picks scattered across a half-decade can’t win you a championship when you’re on the cusp, but maybe Malcolm Brogdon can.

Brogdon has had a questionable health history and the Bucks may have decided they didn’t want to pay a final year’s salary of $22.6 million to a 31-year-old who would likely be the third or fourth wheel if everything went right (and maybe their best player if things didn’t go right). The question then becomes, if you lose Brogdon, what do you replace him with?

For the Milwaukee Bucks, that replacement has come from within. Donte DiVincenzo has stepped up with the additional opportunity provided him and has delivered. He can’t replicate Brogdon’s shooting, but he counters that dip with a tenacious defensive presence.

He’s also only 23 (younger than Brogdon was when he was drafted) and will be under team control on a rookie scale deal until 2022.

As for Brogdon, he’s battled injuries all season with the Pacers. He’s played 48 of their 65 games but was out with a torn hip as of March 7th before the NBA’s season was suspended. He hasn’t been able to get on track and is in the midst of his career-worst shooting season with splits of .439/.313/.895, far from his usual sharp-shooting ways.

Let’s be honest, the Bucks probably knew they had something special in Vincenzo, but they didn’t know that injuries would so totally derail Brogdon this season. He’s had injury issues in each of his last three seasons, and that probably didn’t help the calculus in deciding whether to pay up for him.

The season’s story may not yet be written, but thus far their gamble on DiVincenzo is looking good.